Elephant Park

Elephants crossing the Ping River

On our way back from the Hill Tribes visit, we stopped at an Elephant Park.  We went from a non-touristy place to probably the most tourist-oriented place in Thailand.   But the elephants looked like they were well cared for, lots of people were being employed, and we had a lot of fun.

Elephant art

We started by watching an Elephant show. Kathleen's favourite part of the elephant show was seeing one of the elephants pee and poop,  It really was quite impressive. The park was selling everything imaginable, including the paintings done by the elephants and elephant-poop paper.  However nobody seems to have come up with a way to sell elephant pee yet. Elephant pee beer doesn't quite appeal.  Maybe elephant pee mosquito repellent would sell.  At one point in the show, the elephants came up to the audience so the audience could pass things to them.  The elephants ate whatever they were given except in the case of money - that got passed to the trainer. Good training!

Our Elephnat

After a buffet lunch overlooking the Ping River, we all climbed on elephants for a ride across the river, up along a trail through the forest and then back across the river. The elephants move quite slowly but the ride is certainly not what you would call smooth. Hanging on would be extremely tiring if you had to go any significant distance. Vendors sold us bananas and sugar cane to feed to the elephant.  Our elephant went through a bunch of bananas very quickly.  He didn't even bother to peel them. The elephants grab things with their trunks, so there is no concern about being bitten.

After the elephant ride was over, we had a raft ride for four or five km down the Ping river.  The rafts were made of bamboo poles and were quite stable so there was no worry about getting wet. Two men with poles stood at each end and kept the raft in mid stream.  The current was fairly fast and there were a few rapids but not what you would call white water.  It took about 45 minutes to drift down to the end point.  Our drivers picked us up there and then it was back to Chiang Mai.

Rafting down the Ping River

Despite the touristy atmosphere it was a wonderfully fun outing and I gained an appreciation for the strength and intelligence of elephants.

John E., Alyssa, Gavin and Nancy
on their raft